The more I think about barbecue, the more I start thinking that it’s one of our most important road food traditions. The reason that it remains vital, besides the fact it’s good, is that it cannot be tamed. It can’t be gotten out of a can; it can’t be frozen ahead. BBQ doesn’t negotiate, and it suffers fools badly. Barbecue requires time, smoke, and above all, skill. Which is why attempts to corporatize it ultimately fail.

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This tour took us in a wide circle out and around San Antonio. We visited 18 BBQ joints, 2 brewpubs, 2 private residences, 1 brewery, 1 bar, and 1 low water crossing in 58.5 hours while covering over 650 miles.

The Barbecue Crew celebrated the end of the BBQ trail at a private residence directly on the Comal river. And for the grand finale the "Fab4" bought 3 suitcases of beer, donned 2 mullets, rafted the Guadalupe, and then visited several other miscellaneous bars (including the brewpub inside our hotel). We encountered primarily oak and
mesquite-smoked barbecue cooked using indirect heat. This year we found several places using gas-fired ovens,
electric smokers, and even one place that cooked directly over charcoal.

This tour was run around Houston and surrounding coastal areas, down to nearly Victoria. We hit 17 BBQ joints, 1 pub, 1 mexican restaurant, 1 ball park, and the seawall in 57 hours -- while covering over 650 miles.

We encountered two distinctive styles of barbecue this year. 1) Pecan-smoked barbecue was predominant
around the Houston area; and 2) East Texas barbecue smoked over indirect heat, using hickory. We also found a
number of places using oak, while quite a few places using different mixes of oak, hickory, pecan, and or mesquite.

The BBQ crew compiled 844 individual scores which were tabulated to generate the ranking shown below. A few
interesting facts from the data:

It was a strong year for sausage with 14 of 17 sausage/hot link scores above 6.40

The top overall scores were lower this year, with no joint scoring above 7.50. (Last year there were four, however they were in a fairly narrow score band)

Our 3rd annual tour covered North Texas from Glen Rose all the way to Shreveport, LA. We hit 18 BBQ joints, 1 casino, and 1 pub in 59 hours -- while covering approximately 650 miles.

We encountered three styles of barbecue this year, roughly delineated by DFW. East Texas barbecue was smoked over indirect heat using hickory. We encountered sweet rubs, sweet sauce, sweet beans, sweet slaw, sweet tea, and donuts all throughout East Texas (Ask us about our sugar theory). A majority of the DFW metroplex is split between oak and hickory with a variety of styles and methods represented. We also encountered some pecan-smoked barbecue southwest of Fort Worth. What we've learned over the past few years is that Texas is full of its own regional variations, and comparing these different styles of barbecue is tough. People generally have a preference, and many times it is rooted in memories of their youth.

This was our first full three-day tour. It gave broad coverage of the hill country -- we hit 14 bbq joints and 2 breweries in just 54 short hours! This was a tremendous effort by a great crew of people thanks to all involved (well, except for the monkey doctor, but that s another story).

We encountered two distinct styles of barbecue this year, basically delineated by the city of Austin. Most of Central Texas smokes over indirect heat using some sort of oak. The region west of Austin uses direct heat and mesquite to smoke
their meats... and electric knives to slice. Both styles have their merits and some people just prefer the flavors of one method over the other. To each their own!

This was a short 2-day tour to test the barbecue road trip theory. It was timed to ensure that we got to sample Kruez market before Rick moved it up the street due to the Schmidt family feud. This tour was based around Austin because it had the highest concentration of joints from the 1997 Texas Monthly s top 50 barbecue list. Our goal was to hit as many as possible in two days.

The tour was an unqualified success... 9 BBQ joints and a couple of beer joints in less than 48 hours! Barrow's feedback: "Awesome. But, I think it needs to be a 3-day tour."